NASA’s Message in a Bottle – NASA’s Europa Clipper

Flying Your Identify to Jupiter on NASA’s Icy Moon Explorer

Over 2.6 million individuals all over the world joined NASA’s Message in a Bottle marketing campaign, a first-of-its-kind initiative that invited individuals to signal their names to a particular message touring 1.8 billion miles on the company’s Europa Clipper spacecraft. Launching in October 2024, Europa Clipper will discover Jupiter’s ocean moon Europa, which is taken into account one of the crucial promising presently liveable environments in our photo voltaic system. The message, a poem written by U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón, is engraved on the robotic spacecraft. Participant names will journey alongside the poem.

The marketing campaign enhanced public involvement in NASA science and showcased the function of artwork in exploration—and sparked the creativeness of individuals all over the world.

Marketing campaign OverviewMarketing campaign Overview

It’s not each day that members of the general public have the prospect to ship their names into deep area past Mars, all the way in which to Jupiter and its moon Europa. However with NASA’s Europa Clipper, NASA gave the general public that chance: Names are etched on a microchip that might be affixed to the spacecraft because it journeys 1.8 billion miles (2.6 billion kilometers) to this icy moon, the place an ocean hides beneath a frozen outer shell.

Over 2.6 million individuals all over the world joined NASA’s Message in a Bottle marketing campaign—setting a brand new document for essentially the most names ever flown on a spacecraft past Mars.

The chip might be hooked up to a steel plate engraved with the unique poem “In Reward of Thriller: A Poem for Europa,” written by U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón to have a good time the mission. Using on the outside of the spacecraft, the poem and names might be like a message in a bottle as they make about 50 near flybys of the ocean world. The mission will collect information to find out if Europa may help life.

The marketing campaign impressed individuals all over the world. Between June and December 2023, NASA collected over 2.6 million names to ship to the Jupiter system. By coming aboard, contributors get the prospect to be a part of historical past as NASA seems to be to reply a few of humanity’s greatest questions: How does the universe work, and are we alone?

Read the poem and view the campaign website ›

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NASA Partners with U.S. Poet LaureateNASA Partners with U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón

The campaign is a first-of-its-kind collaboration, uniting art and science, by NASA, the U.S. Poet Laureate, and the Library of Congress. Participants aren’t just having their names flown on a spacecraft—they’re signing their names to a poem written by U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón. The poem connects the two water worlds — Earth, yearning to reach out and understand what makes a world habitable, and Europa, waiting with secrets yet to be explored.

The campaign is similar to other NASA projects that have enabled tens of millions of people to send their names to ride along with Artemis I and several Mars spacecraft. It draws from the agency’s long tradition of shipping inspirational messages on spacecraft that have explored our solar system and beyond. In the vein of NASA’s Voyagers’ Golden Record, which sent a time capsule of sounds and images to communicate the diversity of life and culture on Earth, the program aims to spark the imagination of people around the world.

We built a dedicated microsite for the campaign that allowed users to dive through Europa’s ice, read the poem by U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón, and sign up for the campaign. Upon signing up, users were presented with a social media shareable graphic customized with their name. Users could download, print, or share the graphic on their social networks, using native share trays on mobile devices.

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Global ParticipationGlobal Participation

Space exploration transcends borders. Our global outreach efforts resulted in participation around the world. Coupled with our media and social outreach, we worked with partner organizations to help spread the word, including NASA’s Solar System Ambassadors and the Girl Scouts of USA.

View the campaign’s global heat map ›

Social MediaSocial Media

Our social media campaign ignited imaginations worldwide. We leveraged NASA’s full social media reach to raise awareness of the campaign on a global scale. Participants received social shareables, customized with their names, that they can show off to friends and family. We welcomed our Sesame Street friends and Snoopy on board, along science communicators and other spacecraft. Meanwhile, a social countdown campaign started several weeks from the deadline, using shareables to tell the public how much time they have left to sign on.

Activating NASA’s Social Channels

The campaign was promoted by over 50 NASA social media accounts, linking to related NASA science and the agency’s legacy of exploration. Select posts below show how the campaign was integrated across NASA missions and accounts.

High-Flying Friends

NASA partnered with Sesame Street and Snoopy to promote the campaign with three dedicated social collaborations. Sesame Street released custom artwork featuring Elmo holding a bottle in space, and characters engaged with various NASA accounts. In addition, Sesame Street dedicated the “Letter of the Day” to be “M for moon”. Snoopy content included a clip from the Apple TV “Snoopy in Space” cartoon show, where Snoopy goes to Europa. Even Lance Bass stopped by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to promote the campaign.

Fellow Missions

NASA spacecraft including Peseverance and Curiosity signed on, together with the European House Company’s Juice spacecraft.

Content material Creators

Content material creators organically promoted the marketing campaign throughout their channels. One video, produced by Kobi Brown, recieved over 5 million views.

Twitch

The marketing campaign was promoted as a part of a dwell stream on the NASA Twitch account, giving viewers a behind-the-scenes take a look at the Europa Clipper spacecraft whereas it was being assembled in a cleanroom at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

SpanishSpanish

We created a devoted Spanish microsite for the marketing campaign. Translating poetry is hard, however we teamed up with Puerto Rican poet Roque Raquel Salas Rivera to deliver Ada Limón’s poem to life in Spanish. The marketing campaign was promoted throughout NASA en español social media accounts on NASA Ciencia.

World Media ProtectionWorld Media Protection

This mission has made a whole lot of headlines in over 10 languages worldwide. From AP Information to NPR, area.com to the Smithsonian Journal, the Literary Hub to the Washington Put up, everybody has been speaking about this journey to Jupiter. We even acquired meteorologists concerned, encouraging individuals to gaze up at Jupiter and be a part of our mission.

Vault Plate RevealRevealing the Vault Plate

Through the SXSW 2024 Opening Session, NASA’s Planetary Science Division Director Dr. Lori Glaze and U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón revealed the design for the commemorative vault plate that can carry participant names. On the coronary heart of the triangular steel plate is the engraving of U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón’s handwritten “In Reward of Thriller: A Poem for Europa,” together with the silicon microchip stenciled with greater than 2.6 million names submitted by the general public. The microchip would be the centerpiece of an illustration of a bottle amid the Jovian system – a reference to NASA’s “Message in a Bottle” marketing campaign, which invited the general public to ship their names with the spacecraft.